146 riders took the start at the top of the Mur de Huy at noon. The girls had
to do 103,5 km through the Ardennes with finish again on top of the steep Mur de
Huy. The weather was very sunny all day despite a threat of rain near the end.

The first kilometers were covered with the pack together as the favorites
waited for the Mur de Huy. On the first climbs of the course riders were dropped
off the back of the bunch. World Champion Marta Bastianelli crashed early on;
but she quickly was up and rejoined the peloton.

With less than 50 km to go on the Cote de Bonneville it was Noemi Cantele (Bigla
Cycling Team) who attacked. But her attempt didn’t last long as she was caught
just as she reached the top of the climb.

On the next climb the bunch, which was still about 60/70 riders strong,
stayed together. In the descent of this climb it was Alison Powers (USA) who
attacked and went away on a solo effort; she was joined by Christiane Soeder (Cervelo-Lifeforce)
a few kilometers later.

The attempt of Powers and Soeder didn’t stick with the peloton chasing the
duo down in the next 5 km. The next to attack was a former winner of the race
with Italian wonder woman, Fabiana Luperini (Menikini-Selle Italia); Fabiana
attacked on the côte de Bohisseau and she quickly got a gap of over one minute
on the bunch.

The bunch organized the chase and on the penultimate climb of the day the
côte d'Ahin Luperini's gap was down to 18 seconds. On the D’Ahin another past
winner Nicole Cook accelerated; her pace split the group to about thirty of the
strongest riders with all the favorites like Marianne Vos, Judith Arndt, Alex
Wrubleski, Kristin Armstrong and Marta Bastianelli making the transition to the
front.

Despite the acceleration of Cooke not much happened after the D’Ahin either
as the lead group raced to the final drama. Entering the Mur de Huy with 1 km to
go it was defending champion Marianne Vos who attacked together with Judith
Arndt as the weaker riders were shredded off the back.

At about 200/300 meters Vos started her sprint and Arndt wasn't able to
follow Vos who raced ahead to the finish to win her second Fleche Wallonne, two
years in a row. On the finish line Arndt couldn't hold off World Champion Marta
Bastianelli who finished as second, Arndt held on for third.

Redlands Bicycle Classic winner Alex Wrubleski surprised in a strong
performance taking fourth place just ahead of fellow countrywoman, Amber Neben
who completed the top 5.